Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
Water rained down from the shower head, landing on top of red hair as it ran down the body. Pyrrha slowly opened her droopy baggy eyes, almost half asleep.
She hardly slept after what had happened to her. Two weeks as a robot, followed by nuking her home town, dropping Kyoko into space and almost killing her boyfriend if it wasn't for Silver…
And now here she was, standing under the warm embrace of the hot shower. Yet… she felt cold. She's felt cold ever since she got out.
She didn't even celebrate when the Death Egg crashed into Remnant. For all she knew, it was in that shadowy Lost Levels area. But regardless… she was not her perky self again.
A session with Bereto, since Byleth was still a bit out of it and her wife is doing all she can to cheer her up, indicated that, in her eyes, she'll never be herself again. Not like Bereto didn't nuke his hometown…
Bereto thought the session went pretty well. "Same time next week, if my sister still isn't melancholy?" He asked. Pyrrha gave him a fake smile.
"Sure" was her response.
An empty response. From a broken shell of a woman.
She felt like nothing can cheer her up, not even hanging out with her boyfriend or with her team would give her a friendly smile.
She turned the water off, but she stood there and didn't bother to wrap a towel around her. No tears fell… she felt as if her eyes were all dried up and wouldn't shed a single tear.
Not that she cared.
She stepped out of the tub, grabbing a towel and wrapped it around her, drying herself off as she looked into the mirror. She still couldn't recognize herself. What she saw in the mirror was her robotic self.
The robotic reflection disappeared, showing herself again. All she saw was a broken vessel. She felt… hollow.
She went into her room, sitting down on her bed and reached for her armor. She stopped, pulling away before she could put it on. The armor in her mind twisted and turned, seeming to warp around. She looked outside and saw a street pole bending and twisting as well.
In reality, they haven't even moved an inch. Stationary. Unmoving.
Yet what Eggman had done to her was enough to make her see metal moving around, bending to her will. It didn't help that her robotic prison enhanced her semblance.
Pyrrha opened her closet, throwing her armor and headpieces into it, including her shield and blades. Her eyes were empty and hollow. She shut the door and clasped her hand, activating her Fire Brand to melt the door knob and manipulated it to seal the door shut, never to use her armor or weapons again.
She put on a brown hoodie and some simple jeans. She couldn't be bothered to put on socks or shoes, let alone brush her hair.
She opened up the window, looking out to see the Argus district within Toad Town. Sure, the residents all pitched in to help and gave Futaba and Ambrosius ideas, which gave them plenty of elbow room to work with, making a district for the surviving Argusians.
Unfortunately, one of her neighbors happened to be that obnoxious Atlesian, Cordovin. Typically complains about living in a monarchy with a princess who's obsessed with pink, not to mention she's blonde, not to mention how Toad Town felt like a downgrade compared to being stationed in Argus.
"Hey, Pyrrha!" A survivor waved over as he walked by.
Pyrrha didn't wave back.
She climbed out of the window and landed in the front yard, and walked off, putting her hoodie over her head, her hands in her pockets, and walked off.
"I want out of this hellhole…" She mumbled under her breath.
Back with the heroes…
BGM: Fluttering Kites - Mahana Village (Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin)
"Hmmmm… what to name you…" Mine said as they were back at the village, looking at her Velocidrome that was curled up next to her. "...Oh wait, I got it. How about… Slash?"
The Velocidrome nuzzled her slightly.
"Slash, it is!" Mine grinned.
"I… guess I can call you Kuku." Weiss said as her Yian Kut Ku nuzzled her neck. "Heh… I guess you like it…"
"You seem to be in better spirits. Kinda." Mine said.
"Well… not… really."
"I know, but we'll get your son back soon. I just know it." Mine reassured.
"I hope so…" Weiss frowned.
Meanwhile…
"Hmmm… anything of value here?" Annette wondered as she visited the armory.
"Well, since you knocked down a Yian Kut Ku and gathered up its materials… uh… what weapon are you usually good with?" The armorer asked.
"Hammers, usually."
The armorer smiled, handing a Kut Ku Pick to her. "Here ya go."
Annette's eyes widened, immediately taking it. "Oooooh, this looks gooooood!" She grinned. "Now I have two in my arsenal, this is great~!" She skipped off.
"I'll take that Chicken Decapitator if you don't mind." Kora said, as the armorer handed it to her right after. "Perfect!" She said as she picked it up. "Ah yeah, definitely better than my Iron Blade."
"Hey you."
Kora turned her head, seeing a Felyne sitting by himself.
"Huh? Who's that?" Navirou wondered as they approached it.
"I am but a humble Melynx. I can get you anything you need… fur the right price, of course…"
"Okay, how much Zenny do you need?" Kora asked.
"Not Zenny. Bottle Caps. You can find them in an Everden. In fact, one of them is just south of here."
"Buh… Bottle Caps?" Navirou tilted his head. "I haven't stumbled across any of 'em…"
"They are not in your typical dens, but an Everden will have them."
"You're a suspicious one… why Bottle Caps?" Navirou asked.
"Does it matter?"
"Mmmm… I guess not…" Navirou walked off with Kora.
"I dunno, an Everden sounds kinda fun." Kora said.
"Eeeh… I guess…"
"What's this about a den?" Kayna approached.
"Oh, some shady Melynx was talking about an Everden where we can find bottle caps. Apparently, it's his own currency or somethin'." Navirou shrugged.
"Oh really? Hmmm, where is this Everden at?"
"Just south of where we are." Kora said.
"Oh! I was actually thinking of going to that spot myself. Let's gather up a team and we'll go together."
"Right!" Kora nodded.
"Alright, if you insist." Navirou shrugged.
End BGM
A minute later…
"You guys good to go?" Kora asked, as CRDL, Annette and Rosalina accompanied them.
"I'm all for exploring, yes." Rosalina smiled.
"Then let's go!" Kayna exclaimed as they went off.
"By the way, I can't help but notice Rosie is incredibly tall!" Navirou said, hearing a giggle coming from Rosalina. Not to mention very pretty for a human!
BGM: Sea Breeze - Hakolo Island: Day (Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin)
The group set off for the southern beach, knocking out a few Bnahabra that got way too curious, along with a few Konshu that tried to snip at their toes. They came across the Everden a few moments later.
"Is this it?" Annette asked.
"Yup, here it is." Kayna nodded.
"Alright, let's see if we can't score a few bottle caps in here!" Kora grinned as they walked in.
"Still think we're gonna get ripped off…" Navirou mumbled as they walked through the Everden, exploring every nook and cranny available.
"Well, even if we don't find any bottle caps…" Cardin pulled up some material and placed in a bag. "We got plenty of other treasures."
"He's not wrong!" Kora smiled.
"...That reminds me." Kayna said as they walked along. "Rosie, I don't see any weapons on you. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"
Rosalina smiled. "I will be fine. I have magic on my side."
"Ooooh, you're one of those magic folk. Cool!" Kayna smiled. "So, what kind of magic do you have?"
"She gets her magic from space." Annette said casually, batting away some Velociprey.
"Space?" Kayna tilted her head. "As in… the moon and the stars?"
"My magic is based on the cosmos. It's an intergalactic style form of magic." Rosalina explained.
"...Uuuuuh… soooo like, uh… those weirdos with an orb thingy?" Kora asked.
"Fortune tellers." Navirou said.
"Right…"
"Something beyond that."
Kayna sweatdropped. "I guess it's astrology or whatever…" She scratched her head before shrugging. "Aaah, I'm sure it's fine…"
As they kept exploring, they knocked down a few more Yian Kut Ku, Kulu Ya Ku and the occasional Bulldrome, they found some treasure chests that contained either Zenny or other material.
They would soon reach a nest, guarded by a large Bulldrome. Said monster spotted them and kicked back its foot, letting out a snort in warning.
"You want some?" Annette asked with a smirk. "Let's go, big guy!"
Pause BGM
BGM: Swaying Grasslands (Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin)
"Hold on a moment. I feel something… off about this." Navirou said.
"What? It's just one Bulldrome!" Cardin said as the Bulldrome charged but Kora and Kayna proceeded to slash at the beast while both Velocidromes flanked him and clawed at him, where CRDL jumped in and attacked, but it swung its tusks to get them away.
The Bulldrome lunged at Annette, swinging its head to gore her but she rolled out of the way and used her new hammer to slam it into the head of the Bulldrome.
"Hmm… not as much oomph like my other one. Eh, it'll be fine~!" Annette smiled as Rosalina telekinetically pushed the Bulldrome away, conjuring up small shooting stars and fired directly at the Bulldrome.
"Ooooh, that's what you meant! Cool!" Kora said.
"Neat!" Kayna grinned as they continued to attack it as the Bulldrome batted them away, snarling in the process while Navirou spotted a treasure chest nearby. He quickly tiptoed away and opened it up, revealing ten bottle caps.
"Score!" He grinned, putting them away with a grin… but then his tail frizzled up. "Huh?" He turned around as a shiver ran up his spine. He quickly approached the others. "Guys, I can definitely feel something wrong!"
"Oh, relax. We'll be fine!" Kayna waved it off as she slashed at the Bulldrome, where it blocked with its tusks and parried her. It jumped back, letting out a loud snort and charged.
…Until they heard a loud roar as suddenly, an Anjanath charged in and tackled the Bulldrome head on.
End BGM
BGM: Confrontation (Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin)
"SON OF A GUNLANCE! IT'S AN ANJANATH!" Navirou screamed.
"I thought I had sensed a powerful monster as well… but I had thought I was just imagining it." Rosalina said.
"See? I'm not the only one who sensed it!"
The Anjanath paid no attention to the heroes as it was more interested in the Bulldrome. The Bulldrome tried to impale it, but the Anjanath swung its tail to knock the Bulldrome on its side, then it chomped down on its neck as the Bulldrome squealed in agony as it tried to kick back in vain.
The legs fell limp as the Anjanath proceeded to have a meal, eating the Bulldrome like it was a tasty snack. It then walked up to the nest and chomped down on the eggs, gulping them down or crunching as blood splattered everywhere.
"Mmmph!" Annette gagged, covering her mouth.
"Okay, what's the plan here?" Sky asked.
"Maybe if we stay really still, it won't notice us." Dove responded.
"You think so?" Cardin wondered.
"Worked for that Khezu that one time…" Russel said.
The Anjanath turned to see the group. With a snarl, it unleashed a monstrous breath of fire. Rosalina swiftly conjured up a galactic barrier to prevent them from being burned.
"Aaaand that's our ticket out of here! MOVE IT!" Navirou yelled as he took off running.
"W-wait up!" Kayna yelled.
"I want to fight that thing…" Kora said.
"Now's not the time. That thing's really angry!" Annette exclaimed as she grabbed her wrist and ran off.
"We faced how many Anjanaths? This shouldn't be too problematic." Dove said.
"...I dunno, something feels different with this big guy." Cardin responded. "Rosie, think we should evacuate?"
"For the time being, we should." Rosalina nodded as they took off.
End BGM
The Anjanath watched them leave. It took a few steps to chase after them… but stopped. It heard the sound of a whistle as it turned its head. It let out a low growl as it followed the source of the whistle.
Meanwhile…
BGM: The Thirteenth Discretion (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
"Mmmm…" Sienna had her arms folded as she had called a meeting with Blake, Ilia, Seryu, Luminary, Captain Slime and Major Malfunction.
"What is this about?" Blake curiously asked.
"Honestly… it's about Adam." Sienna responded. "We all know what he's capable of. I've poisoned his mind with ideas back when I thought what we were doing was right."
"I've called him out on it a few times back when we were still in Menagerie. He said he won't kill anyone the next time… and I believed him." Blake sighed. "And we all know how that ended up."
"I'm so glad I got out of there when I did… can't believe it was all because of Snake." Ilia said.
"There's also the fact that he's using monsters from our world. Some of my loyal men didn't make it to Lord Bowser's army because Adam snagged them."
"I've had a chat with Captain Slime… and I came to the conclusion he's using monsters from Melromarc too." Malfunction said.
"It's concerning." Luminary mumbled.
"Adam needs to be stopped, but I don't know if ending his life would be a good thing. We'd be no better than him." Blake said. "...Unfortunately, he'll just break out of prison with how powerful he is."
"Seryu, you've been with him for a short time. What was he like when you were… not yourself?" Sienna asked.
Seryu sighed. "Honestly? He kept droning on about how humans are scum and all that bullshit, not to mention the Schnees are valuable targets… aaaand said he had a score to settle with Peach as she was the one who made that treaty. Ugh, I can't believe he would actually go for it while everyone was distracted by that Death Egg."
"How's Peach holding up from that, by the way? It can't be easy surviving an assassination attempt." Blake said.
"I've talked with her yesterday. She still feels the pain of that potshot when the Glavenus kept her distracted and every once in a while, her wrist hurts pretty bad for a few seconds. However, she's actually feeling pretty good and not letting it bother her." Sienna shook her head. "I know she's a fair princess who's very laid back and friendly… but… you can't deny the fact that Adam went as far as trying to assassinate her. And if I know my politics well enough… attempting to assassinate a monarch is practically a death sentence. I doubt Peach enforces it, but it's… pretty serious."
"Has Adam said anything else?" Ilia asked.
"Just generic bullcrap here and there." Seryu shrugged. "Traitorous faunus, death to the Schnees, humans should be under our feet, all that nonsense. Says he wants to revolutionize the world."
"Anyone serving under him? Anyone familiar?" Sienna asked.
"Not really… there were a lot of Faunus, yet I never bothered to memorize their names." Seryu said. "...Of course, I had brain damage, so there was that… not to mention they had hoods over their heads so they all looked the same to me, aside from a tail, ears or some antlers here or there. Can't help you with that."
"I do know two… Corsac and Fennec. They tried to coax me out of the Smash Mansion so I could be executed, but thanks to Shulk, I was able to sic Incineroar on those clowns."
"Ooooh, right, I remember seeing those two." Seryu rubbed her head. "I do remember that they went on a mission and never came back… I think it was around the time Adam and I went to snag a Glavenus. Even when I was mentally unwell, those two gave me the creeps. I could care less what happened to them."
"Maybe they got kidnapped." Blake snarked. "That'd be ironic…"
"I honestly forgot they existed… whoops." Ilia sheepishly scratched her cheek.
"So, what should we do with Adam?" Captain Slime asked.
"Honestly… I'm not sure, but we need to be on our guards. There's no telling when Adam will show his face. He'll definitely get the jump on us." Sienna siad.
"Mind if I suggest something?" Blake asked.
"What is it?"
"Someone should be with Weiss at all times. He's using Azure to lure Weiss to him, where he'll kill her in an ambush." Blake responded. "If she's alone… that's the perfect time for him to get her. Not to mention that Weiss still hasn't mentally recovered after what happened with Eggman. Kidnapping her son while she's recovering definitely caused her anxiety to spike hard."
"Indeed." Sienna nodded. "We'll all have to keep an eye on Weiss… and until then, we'll have to be on our guard and plan what to do with Adam accordingly."
End BGM
Back with Kora and the others…
"Phew… that was close…" Kora said as they made it back.
"You're tellin' me… hoo!" Navirou breathed a sigh of relief as he then walked over to the Melynx. "Alright, here's your bottle caps! Now show us what you got."
"Thank you. Here's what I'm selling."
"Red Devil Gunlance… a Defender… Hunter's Dagger… not bad! How much are they?"
"Sixteen Bottle Caps a piece."
"Ah, sixteen. Good to kno-... HEY WAIT A MINUTE! We only got ten and you need sixteen?!"
"Yes."
Navirou growled as he stormed off. "Lousy good for nothing cat burglar ripping us off like he owns the joint… who does he think he is!"
"There there…" Kora patted him on the head.
"Hmm?" Kayna noticed some fellow villagers near the entrance, looking rather exhausted. "Hey, what's going on?"
"M-Monster… in the North Kamuna Forest… we barely got out but… huff… poison… poison everywhere!"
"Poison?" Kayna looked concerned and turned to Kora. "We're gonna need a lot of antidote for this."
"Right." She nodded and put her hands over her mouth to call out to her friends. "Anyone want to come out and help us deal with a poisonous monster?"
"Poison, you say?" Mine looked intrigued.
"...Why do you look interested?" Weiss asked.
"Because ever since we got back from Skyloft, Mira's been teaching me how to withstand poison. Long story short, I gained immunity to it."
"Really?"
"Mhm! …Kinda burns when you eat it though. I do not envy Gloria being force fed a Poison Mushroom." She said as she walked off.
"Yeah…"
Weiss blinked in realization.
"Wait, what?"
A minute later…
Kora looked at the team, seeing Serena, Mercedes, Wendy, Gloria in her Scolipede form, Aqua and Mine accompanying them. "Ah cool, an all girl's team. Nice!" Navirou said.
"We got some healing magic. We can take care of it." Serena said as they walked off.
"By the way, where'd you get that fancy armor?" Kora asked.
"Oh, this? Ah… from a poisonous serpent." Gloria lied.
"Definitely looks pretty cool." Kora nodded as they took off, heading straight for the North Kamuna Forest, knocking down a few Bulldromes that attempted to attack them as they made their way inside the forest.
Once they got in, they started to explore the forest with their guards up, searching for any beast that would attempt to ambush them with poison. They all looked around, but with the occasional Velocidrome and Yian Kut Ku, they couldn't find a single monster that could produce poison.
They eventually made their way to the nest, seemingly empty.
"Empty? Did we miss it?" Mine wondered.
"I don't know… but I'm willing to bet it's lying in wait to ambush us." Aqua said as they spread out.
"Hmmm… now where could-" Navirou turned his head while walking, smacking into something. "Oh! Sorry about thaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"
He looked up as a Pukei Pukei turned to glare at him.
BGM: Swaying Grasslands
"...YAAAAAAAAAAAH! IT'S A PUKEI PUKEI!" He cried as he ran away as the Pukei Pukei spat out poison, but he got out of the way in time.
"An Anjanath and now a Pukei Pukei?! What the heck is going on here?" Kayna wondered.
"This island's cursed, that's what it is!" Navirou exclaimed.
A purple aura surrounded Mine's wrist. "Hey buddy! Over here!" She said, shooting it to get its attention.
With a snarl, the Pukei Pukei lunged and bit down on Mine, but she rolled out of the way as Aqua jumped in and slashed at the beast before she gracefully backflipped, hitting it with a Blizzaga.
The Pukei Pukei swung its tongue to try and strike Aqua, but she jumped over it. "It's using it's tongue?!"
"Hope you like whatever was in that grass!" Mine said, shooting it in the mouth as Gloria ran in and spat out a Venom Drench from her mouth. It was enough for the Pukei Pukei to look at her weirdly with a "Really?" look in its eyes before tried to bite down, but Gloria jumped back.
"SKY DRAGON'S ROOOOOAR!" Wendy yelled as Serena backed her up with a Kaswoosh, pushing it back. Kora and Kayna looked at each other with bewildered expressions before shrugging as they proceeded to jump in and slashed the beast.
The Pukei Pukei ate some fruit on the ground and with a smirk, it turned around and sprayed a poisonous liquid from its tail, although a bit slower thanks to Gloria's Venom Drench. It had a curious expression as to why it was a bit slower than normal.
Mine absorbed the poison and proceeded to conjure up a poisonous spear as she threw it, sending it directly into the Pukei Pukei's forehead while also licking some of the poison from her finger.
"Huh… a bit citrus-y…" She mused as her eye twitched. "Oh! There it is… ooooh! There's the tartness…" She flinched, causing Slash to sweatdrop before he jumped in and swiped at the Pukei Pukei.
Aqua flanked the Pukei Pukei, quickly going into her Anti form and proceeding to slash through the tail while Mercedes used Seraphim on the beast. Wendy jumped up and used Sky Dragon Wing Attack, along with Gloria using Take Down to push the beast to the ground.
Aqua was joined by the Riders and their rides, proceeding to tear into the tail and ripped it off, causing the Pukei Pukei to yelp in agony as it tried to turn around and used its long frog-like tongue to attack them in retaliation, but all it did was give Mine plenty of time to go into her Demon Soul form and fired a powerful dark laser into where the tail was supposed to go, causing the Pukei Pukei to screech until it spat out the actual dark laser.
"Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it!" Mine smirked as the Pukei Pukei weakly turned around to glare at Mine, only to go down when Aqua used Thunder Surge and Kora slashing through the head to finish it off.
End BGM
Mine turned back to normal and chuckled. "To the victor go the spoils." She said as she walked toward the nest while Kayna and Kora proceeded to extract whatever they needed from the Pukei Pukei's corpse, tail included.
"Let's see… ah, two eggs that weigh about the same!" Navirou said as one of them started to hatch, causing a baby Pukei Pukei to come out… which proceeded to imprint on Mine and snuggled up to her.
"Oh sweet, I get a poisonous gremlin tagging along with me. Awesome~!" Mine smiled as Wendy and the other healers healed everyone up that was affected by the poison, Kayna pitching in with some antidotes.
Back at the village…
"Chief! We got a problem!" Kayna said as they ran up to him… while the other egg hatched as another Pukei Pukei came out of it, and waltzed right up to Weiss.
"Another Wyvern?!" Weiss said in surprise as the Pukei Pukei curled up next to her. "Aheheheh… what's going on here…?"
"You might be a Wyvern magnet?" Meryl shrugged with a giggle.
Cardin rubbed his chin, chuckling. "How about that… another Wyvern got all cuddly with her."
"Hmmm… need to do something to differentiate between our Pukeis…" Mine said.
With Chief Gara…
"...Did you just say an Anjanath?" Gara asked.
"Yeah, and we had a Pukei Pukei problem too." Kora added.
"I hate to say it, chief… but without Guardian Ratha around, strange things have been going on." Kayna said.
"Indeed… without Guardian Ratha, the monsters may have a hard time restraining themselves." Gara said gravely.
"We should investigate the Guardian Ratha Woods. That's where this all started." Kayna said.
"Indeed. I give you both and your new friends permission to investigate."
Meanwhile, with America…
"Alright, I'm all set." America said to herself.
"Mind if we tag along?" A voice asked as America turned to see Snake, Clint, Yelena and Kate.
"The wizard felt you may need some backup just in case." Clint said.
America nodded. "Good idea… we might not know what we're up against."
"I'm still having a hard time picturing gamer girl as evil… but I guess everyone's got a dark side…" Snake mumbled.
"Come on, let's go see Strange so he can use his magic."
"For what purpose? You can use your star portals to jump between universes, right?" Kate asked.
"Yeah… but it's for protection."
"Protection against what?" Yelena wondered.
"Protection against Twilight Chiaki's bullshit."
I figured since this is gonna be a stealth op, might as well have Snake tag along. Give him something to do.
Ibuki: Sounds reasonable.
Deadpool: Mhm!
Pyrrha needs a desperate hug though... and a shoutout to DarkRebellion for coming up with names for Mine and Weiss's monsters!